


The Ghost in the Attic

by la luna (moontrimmer)



Series: Encantadas [4]
Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/F, Implied/Referenced Abuse, T rating is for the referenced abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moontrimmer/pseuds/la%20luna
Summary: Juliana gets a call about her mother. Valentina finds out about El Chino.
Relationships: Valentina Carvajal & Juliana Valdés, Valentina Carvajal/Juliana Valdés
Series: Encantadas [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1381516
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	The Ghost in the Attic

**Author's Note:**

> Fourth instalment of the **Ilvermorny AU**. Juliana is still in her first year, Valentina in her third.
> 
> I posted this on Tumblr saying that it's a prologue to a longer instalment, but the story seems to refuse to be told in the way I was planning, so I'm posting this as a standalone instead. (To be clear, the story of the whole series is the same, it's just a matter of breaking them into instalments, and some other considerations that I won't bore you with.)

Juliana transfigures a rock into a twig, then into a leaf, and finally into a piece of parchment.

“You’re getting really good at that,” Valentina says beside her.

They’re in their little spot in the courtyard, studying for the upcoming final exams in the beautiful weather of that particular Sunday afternoon. Well, they’re supposed to be studying, but they’re just chatting about everything and nothing while enjoying the mild spring breeze.

“ _Qué?_ ” Juliana asks, putting the transfigured parchment on the table in front of them.

The table is a new addition. They borrowed it from another part of the courtyard, levitating it together to their corner when no one was looking. Juliana was worried about getting into trouble over it, but Valentina was right; nobody made them move the table back to its original spot or even commented about its new one.

“Transfiguration,” Valentina says, waving a hand at Juliana’s parchment in emphasis. “You know that’s the hardest branch of wand-based magic, right?”

Juliana shrugs. She does know; or rather, her classmates keep pointing that fact out when they discuss Transfiguration practical exams. Juliana nods along when they complain, but the truth is that she’s not having trouble with practical Transfiguration. It wasn’t that difficult to imagine a rock into a twig, or a leaf into a parchment. However, “The equations are hard. I still don’t really understand how all those factors combine into a spell.”

Valentina shakes her head. “That’s theory, it’ll get easier to understand with repetition.” She gives Juliana knowing grin, “Just admit you’re good at it.”

Juliana opens her mouth to argue but thinks better of it at the look on Valentina’s face, the one that says she’ll heap more praises on her if Juliana keeps objecting. “Well, maybe if this whole Ilvermorny thing doesn’t pan out, I can work as a magician in one of those shows.”

Valentina shoots her a confused look.

“A Muggle magician,” Juliana clarifies.

“ _Qué?_ ”

“Like this,” Juliana transfigures the piece of parchment in her hand into a bouquet of paper flowers. She hands the flowers to Valentina, who accepts it bemusedly, though she still draws the flowers closer to her chest in reflex. When Valentina looks down at the bouquet of flowers to inspect it, Juliana transfigures it again to its original rock form.

The expression of absolute bewilderment on Valentina’s face is so adorable, Juliana bursts out laughing.

Valentina gives her a pout that is very obviously pretend. “You’re making fun of me,” she says, stomping her foot.

“Noooo,” Juliana denies through her laughter.

Valentina shakes her head, but she soon joins in on Juliana’s amusement, her dimples showing as she giggles. “You’re so silly, Juls.”

“I was only--” Juliana starts, but is cut off by a shrill sound coming from her robe pocket.

She fishes out her Floo Glass, which has clouded over, a voice informing her that she has a call from Lupé. Unlike calls from other Floo Glasses, where the caller has to announce themselves, calls from Muggle phones are announced by an embedded voice within the device. Juliana finds that more convenient than having to repeatedly call someone’s name to get their attention, though she wishes they used ringtones instead of a shrill annoying voice.

Juliana accepts the call and the Floo Glass clears to show a picture of an old telephone. The Floo Glass is permanently on the equivalent of on-speaker setting in a Muggle phone, so she puts it on the table in front of her.

“Mom?” she starts, glancing at Valentina with furrowed brows. She doesn’t know why her mom is calling. Valentina looks back at her, curious.

“Juliana,” the caller says. It’s not her mom’s voice.

Juliana’s heart jumps to her throat. She picks up the Floo Glass, drawing it closer. “Who is this? Where’s my mom?”

“Juli,” the caller says, “it’s Rosita, your neighbour. Everything is alright now, but your mom’s in the hospital--”

“What?” Juliana gets up to her feet, drawing the Floo Glass closer to her face. “What happened?”

“Your-- El Chino, he beat her up.”

Anger flashes through Juliana, but Rosita continues talking before she can respond.

“Don’t worry, she’s okay now! But I-- well-- I had to take her to the hospital and they insisted on keeping her overnight for observation. She has a concussion.”

“What!” Juliana explodes. “How can she be okay if she has a concussion? And where is Chino? I’m going to--” she cuts herself off, not knowing what she means to do. That familiar feeling of helpless rage against the man rises within her.

“He’s gone,” says Rosita. “He left. I think they were fighting about that, about him leaving. But your mom is alright now, Juli, don’t worry. It happened this morning.”

“Then why--?”

“I tried to contact you as soon as I could,” Rosita adds hurriedly. “Your mother managed to give me your number, but it didn’t ring when I called through my phone. At first I thought it was because the number is wrong, I mean it doesn’t look like a phone number. I’m calling through your mom’s phone now.”

Juliana is barely listening to her neighbour’s explanations. She tightens her grip around the Floo Glass, her palm hurting. She feels a warm hand on her back. Valentina. She loosens her grip and takes a deep breath, trying to calm down.

“Rosi, which hospital are you in?”

Rosita gives her the hospital’s name, a small public one near the trailer park where they live. “But Juli,” Rosita adds, “you don’t have to come here. Your mom says you can’t leave your boarding school at any time. Lupé is alright, really. I only called because I thought you should know.”

“ _No_. I’m going there. Rosita-- can you-- can you please watch her? Just until I get there.”

“Of course,” comes the kind reply.

Juliana thanks Rosita and ends the call, gathering her things immediately afterwards.

Valentina hovers close.

Juliana looks up, meeting her worried gaze. “I have to go,” she says, slinging her bag over one shoulder. “I have to go to my mom.”

Juliana hurries towards the Entrance Hall, mentally kicking herself the whole way.

Chino had not left when Juliana came back to Ilvermorny after the winter break. Every time her mom calls, Lupé would talk about how nice Chino was with her, how much he was like his old self. All of that stopped over a month ago, but Juliana never asked why. She was only too glad that she didn’t have to hear about Chino anymore. She should have known that he had stopped playing nice. No, she did know, she just didn’t want to hear her mom confirm it.

Juliana stops in front of one of the fireplaces in the Entrance Hall, Valentina right behind her. She looks frantically around for a pot of Floo Powder, but there is none in sight.

“Where is the Floo Powder!” she bursts out, more an exclamation of frustration than a question. She closes her fists, tightening her grip around the Floo Glass that’s still in her hand.

“Juls,” Valentina begins as she reaches out for Juliana’s hand, taking the Floo Glass and rubbing at the red mark it made on Juliana’s palm. Despite herself, Juliana’s sense of urgency dissipates a little. “We have to get permission to leave school, remember?”

“My mom’s hurt, Val,” Juliana says through gritted teeth. It’s all she can do not to stomp her foot. “I can’t just stay here.”

“I know,” Valentina says calmly. “Let’s go to Professor Henson’s office, we can ask for permission from her. Her fireplace is connected to the Network, we can Floo from there.”

Juliana concedes, letting Valentina take charge. Hand still holding hers, Valentina leads them through several hallways and up a flight of stairs until they are right in front of the office of Pukwudgie’s Head of House. The knocker, shaped like a Pukwudgie head, asks for the purpose of their visit. Valentina tells it, leaving out the details. The door opens and a disembodied voice tells them to take a seat and wait for Professor Henson.

Valentina ushers Juliana inside, closing the door behind them as she leads Juliana towards a pair of chairs in front of the large desk. The fireplace is on the other side of the room, unlit because of the warm spring day.

Juliana barely takes note of anything else in the room. She’s too worried about her mom, thinking about what Chino must have done to give Lupé a concussion.

“Juls,” Valentina’s voice cuts into her spiralling thoughts. 

Juliana looks up at her. Valentina’s gaze is filled with concern.

“Juls, _quién is El Chino_?”

Juliana feels her heart drop like a lead weight to her stomach, finally registering the fact that Valentina heard everything. She tries to think of a way to explain El Chino without giving away the fact that he is her father, but she knows she can’t lie to Valentina anymore.

“ _El Chino… El Chino es mi papá,_ ” Juliana begins. “What I told you about him leaving me and my mom when I was a kid, that-- that was a lie. He leaves, but he always comes back. He’s a bad man, he-- he works for a drug cartel.” She takes a pause before forcing out, “And he hurts my mom.”

Juliana keeps her gaze directed downwards, not wanting to meet Valentina’s eyes. Her face burns as shame courses through her, for having grown up in a home like hers, for having a father like El Chino Valdés. She shuts her eyes tight, afraid of Valentina’s reaction. She feels like a spinning top threatening to wobble out of its steady axis.

“Did he--” Valentina falters, her voice shaky, “did he hurt you?”

Juliana opens her eyes and glances up at Valentina, but quickly looks down again.

“No,” she replies, shaking her head in emphasis. Chino never hurt her physically; at least, not more than Lupé had when Juliana was younger, nor other parents around their neighbourhood when they were angry with their children.

Valentina reaches across the short space between them and put her hands over Juliana’s. She squeezes, and Juliana finally meets her gaze. There is no judgment in Valentina’s blue eyes, only open acceptance, and deep concern. Juliana allows herself to breathe.

“We’ll go to your mom as soon as we get permission,” Valentina says reassuringly. “It sounds like she will be alright and if not,” Valentina moves her chair closer to Juliana’s so their knees are touching, “if not, we’ll find a way to get her the best Healers.”

Juliana sags slightly in her seat, not quite in relief but in a reduction of worry. She nods, holding on to Valentina’s hands, steadying herself.

⁂

Valentina and Juliana are still holding hands when Professor Henson arrives, entering the office through a door by the fireplace and taking her customary seat, across the desk from Valentina and Juliana.

“Which one of you needs permission to leave school?” the professor asks, taking out a quill and parchment from the desk drawer. “You do know I’ll need to confirm it with your parents? Well, in your case, Miss Carvajal, I’ll need to check with your older sister.”

“Uhm, Professor, it’s me,” Juliana speaks up. “My mom’s in the hospital, I need to go to her.”

“Oh.” The professor’s expression morphs into concern. “What happened?” she asks, putting away the first parchment and fishing out two coloured ones from the drawer. She starts writing something down on the orange parchment.

Juliana starts stammering, “I-- well, I--”

“Professor,” Valentina takes over, squeezing Juliana’s hand. “We’re not required to give you that information, are we?”

Professor Henson raises an eyebrow at Valentina. Valentina gazes back defiantly; she knows Juliana feels uncomfortable talking about what happened.

“It’s okay, Val,” says Juliana. “Professor, I-- my mom was-- it’s El Chino-- I mean, my father-- he--”

“I see,” the professor cuts in. “Of course you can go to her.” She gazes at Juliana, her brows furrowed, her dark eyes kind and understanding. “I’ll excuse you from your classes if you’re not back by tomorrow.” She starts writing on the green parchment, “and of course, Ilvermorny will cover the hospitalisation fees.”

Valentina frowns in confusion; she didn’t know that there are costs to being hospitalised.

Juliana, on the other hand, seems to have thought about it already. “What? No, Professor. I can pay it myself. I have-- I have some savings. I think it should be enough, with the conversion rate.”

The professor stares at Juliana with wide, almost disbelieving eyes. “No, Miss Valdés, the school will cover it. This is part of your admission. We want our students, _you_ , to focus on your classes, not worry about other things.”

“But--”

“Juls,” Valentina squeezes Juliana’s hand before reaching out to put an arm around her shoulders. “Let the school take care of it, please. Let’s just worry about going to your mom.”

Juliana looks up at Valentina, biting her lip, seemingly having an internal debate with herself. After a moment, she nods, relenting, and Valentina gives her a small smile. Juliana returns it with a grateful smile of her own.

The fireplace roars to life, and Valentina and Juliana look up to see that Professor Henson has moved to stand by the fireplace. She’s carrying a pot of Floo powder. They make their way towards her, hand in hand, but Professor Henson doesn’t give them the Floo Powder.

“Miss Carvajal,” says the professor, “ _you_ don’t have permission to leave school.”

Valentina balks. “What? Professor, please, I want to go with Juliana.”

“It’s alright, Val,” says Juliana, squeezing Valentina’s hand. “I can go by myself.”

“No,” Professor Henson says, a faint note of exasperation in her voice. “Miss Valdés,” she shoots a pointed look at Juliana, “you are not going by yourself. Professor Borges is going with you. I’ve sent her a message and she’s on her way here now.”

* * *

Juliana takes quick strides towards her mother the moment she arrives at the ward that they put her in. As she approaches, it becomes increasingly obvious that a concussion is not the only injury El Chino left on Lupé. There is a cut on her lip, her cheek is bruised, and she is sporting a black eye.

“ _Ma_ ,” Juliana croaks, standing right by her mother’s bed and taking her hand. “What did he do to you?”

Lupé is sitting up, but her eyes are unfocused. Juliana looks towards Rosita, who is standing on the opposite side.

“I don’t know, Juli,” Rosita says helplessly. “I--” she flicks a glance towards Lupé, “I heard some shouting, but--” she stops herself again, looking carefully at Lupé, but Lupé is staring straight ahead, seemingly unhearing. “There was some shouting, but it stopped, and the next thing I knew, your fa-- El Chino was knocking on my door and asking me to take your mom to the hospital because he has somewhere to go.”

Juliana grits her teeth.

Lupé speaks up. “He only slipped, Juli,” she starts, looking plaintively at Juliana as she covers Juliana’s hand with both of hers. “He apologised, and I know he’s truly sorry. He even asked Rosita to bring me here. I didn’t want to come here, but he insisted on it. He even gave me money to pay for it.”

Juliana suddenly feels exhausted. This isn’t the first time that Chino hurt her mother, but it’s the first time his actions sent her to the hospital. Earlier, when she heard about what happened, a small part of her foolishly hoped that this would be the final straw that would make her mother realise what a horrible man Chino is.

She was wrong.

She draws her hand back from Lupé’s grip. She wants to point out to her mother that Chino is the reason she’s in the hospital, wants to remind her of all the times Chino hurt her in the past, but she can’t do it now. Not when Lupé’s eyes look unfocused, not when there are other people around.

Despite Juliana’s protests, Professor Henson insisted that she needed an adult to come with her to the hospital. Valentina tried to come with her too, but she quickly relented when Professor Henson pointed out that she was delaying Juliana’s departure. Juliana is glad that Valentina couldn’t come. Valentina is the most open-minded and accepting person she’s ever met, but Juliana still feels ashamed at the thought of her best friend witnessing what her Muggle life is really like.

Unfortunately, Juliana can’t stop Professor Borges from coming with her.

“The school will cover your hospitalisation fees, Mrs. Valdés,” Professor Borges chooses that moment to join in. She was standing a few feet away, but she walks towards them now. “It’s part of Juliana’s scholarship, extra emergency fund for family members.”

Rosita makes an impressed noise.

“In fact, I’ll go talk to the staff about it,” Professor Borges continues. She turns to Rosita and extends her hand, introducing herself, “I’m Lucía, Juliana’s teacher. Would you mind showing me to the cashier?”

Rosita leads Professor Borges out of the ward, leaving Juliana and Lupé by themselves. Juliana gazes at her mother, but Lupé has looked away and is refusing to meet her eyes.

“Ma--”

Lupé shakes her head, then immediately brings her hands up to her temples. “Not now, Juli, _por favor_.”

Juliana presses her lips together. She knows her words won’t get through to Lupé, they never did. She has no reason to expect any different now, especially when Lupé is dealing with a concussion. Her mother looks so pitiful, with her bruised face and clouded eyes, one of which is half-closed from injury. Juliana’s stomach churns violently.

“Juli.”

The anger that Valentina soothed with her soft words and gentle touch starts rising within Juliana again. She feels almost choked with helpless rage. She’s mad at Chino but he’s not here, and even if he was she won’t be able to do anything about it.

“Juliana.”

She doesn’t even have her wand with her, she had to surrender it before leaving school.

“Juliana!”

She snaps out of her thoughts, looking up at her mother to see Lupé’s gaze directed at her hands. Juliana looks down and realises that she’s clutching the edge of her mother’s blanket. An angry red colour has taken over the blanket’s normal white, starting from the point of contact with her hands and spreading out like a blot. But the colour isn’t blood; the fabric simply turned red at and around the area where Juliana is touching it.

Juliana quickly lets go of the blanket, staring at the red spot in shock. She didn’t mean to do anything, but there’s no one else who could have changed the blanket’s colour. Juliana brings a hand up to her forehead. It’s the first time she’s done accidental magic since she started at Ilvermorny. She looks around in alarm, but no one seems to be paying them any attention.

“I’m sorry, ma,” she says shakily, running a hand over her face. Now she’s the one who can’t look at her mother, afraid to be met with fear or disgust.

“Oh, baby.” Juliana feels her mother’s hand on her cheek, nudging her lightly so she meets her gaze. “It’s alright, I know you didn’t mean that. We can get your professor to change it back.”

Even with her bruised eye, there’s no denying the concern and understanding in Lupé’s expression.

Juliana’s anger is taken over by guilt and sorrow. She swallows, trying to keep her emotions in check, and swallows once more. It hurts to see her mother so beat up. “I’m sorry,” she says again, but she’s no longer talking about the accidental magic.

Lupé is given a clean bill of health and gets discharged from the hospital the next day. Juliana decides to stay with her at their trailer for one more night, but Professor Borges has to go back to school to teach her classes. The professor comes back in the evening with a jar of what she calls ‘murtlap essence’ for Lupé’s bruises. She tells Juliana that she will pick her up the next day, but Lupé insists on being the one to accompany Juliana to the nearby Floo Station. Professor Borges doesn’t stay long after that, leaving with the reminder that Juliana can call her if she needs anything else.

Juliana tries to talk to her mother about what Chino did, but Lupé is having none of it. Juliana doesn’t push, tired of listening to the excuses Lupé makes for Chino. It’s a conversation that will have to be buried, probably never to be dug up. Juliana is used to it.

Juliana gets to sleep on their only bed beside her mother that night, but she finds no comfort in the sound of her mother’s sobs as she tries to fight back her own tears.

Despite the rough night, Lupé is looking much better the following morning, her bruises almost faded thanks to the murtlap essence. She prepares a big breakfast for Juliana, asking about her classes and talking about their summer plans, as though the past couple of days’ events didn’t happen. Juliana allows herself to chatter happily with her mother. They’ve always been good at pretending that everything is alright.

As promised, Lupé accompanies Juliana to the Floo Station across town. Juliana says goodbye to her mother hoping -- wishing, fervently -- that Chino will not come back to their lives.

* * *

Juliana arrives at Ilvermorny by Professor Henson’s office. The professor is not in the room, but Juliana’s wand is on the coffee table right in front of the fireplace, along with a note telling her that she can skip her morning classes but that she is expected to go to the afternoon ones. It’s almost lunchtime, so Juliana makes her way to her dormitory to change into her school robes. She goes back down to the common room just as several of her classmates walk in through the main entrance.

Juliana stops by the doorway to the girls’ dormitories as her classmates make a beeline for her, all of them wearing expressions of concern.

Alanna, a button-nosed girl shorter than Juliana, reaches her first. “Juliana,” she starts, “Professor Henson said you had a family emergency. I’m glad to see you back!”

Her other classmates echo the sentiment as Juliana finds herself being marched to one of the sofas. A few of them ask her what happened, but someone gives her a rundown of the lessons they’d covered while she was away. Juliana is surprised by her classmates’ concern; she became friendly with all of them over the last several months, even joining Alanna and her friends, Grace and Kieran, for group activities, but she still spent most of her time with Valentina. Touched, Juliana tells them a little of what happened, that her mother was admitted to a hospital but that she has been discharged.

“Well, I’m glad,” Alanna declares loudly, stopping everyone from asking further questions. “We were worried when we didn’t see you in class, and Professor Henson didn’t tell us what your emergency was.”

“We were going to ask Valentina,” Grace pipes up, “it seems like she knew what happened. But, you know… she’s _Valentina Carvajal_.”

Juliana nods, aware that her classmates are in awe of the older girl.

“Grace cried,” Kieran tells Juliana.

“Shut up, Kieran!” Grace reaches over to give the boy a slap on the arm. “I was worried, okay! What if someone had passed away?”

Juliana’s lips twitch up into a smile. Grace cries at everything, History of Magic lessons included, but Juliana appreciates the sentiment all the same.

Before anyone else can respond, a familiar voice rings out across the common room. “Juls!”

Juliana turns around to see Valentina making a beeline for her, rounding the sofa and practically jumping over an armchair in her haste. Kieran, who didn’t get out of her way in time, is unceremoniously pushed aside.

“Juls,” Valentina says again, softer this time, as she reaches Juliana and wraps her in a tight hug.

Juliana falls into Valentina’s embrace, forgetting about everyone else around them.

After a moment, Valentina pulls away only to put her forehead against Juliana’s. “Hey,” she says, her voice reflecting the gentleness in her eyes. “Are you okay? Is your mom okay?”

Juliana swallows. Unable to speak, she answers with a nod.

“Good,” Valentina says before wrapping her arms around Juliana again. “I’m glad,” she adds, running a hand up and down Juliana’s back.

In the comfort of Valentina’s arms, Juliana feels the tension she didn’t know she was carrying leave her body.

“Grace is crying again.”

“It’s just so lovely!”

⁂

Later that afternoon, after their classes, Valentina and Juliana go to watch Ilvermorny’s Quidditch Team practising at the makeshift pitch on one side of the school’s expansive field. They’ve made a habit of it since Christmas, when Valentina played with some members of the team. Aside from the Captain, who was already in the team when Valentina backed out on the Reserve Seeker position, everyone is friendly with her. Gwen, Maddie, and Charles even make it a point to wave at her and Juliana as they climb up the stands by the makeshift pitch.

“I brought snacks,” Valentina says as they take their seats, drawing out a jar of salted and chilli-coated peanuts out of her school bag. The snack is sold by an older student, and Juliana has taken a liking to it.

Juliana gives her a small smile. “Thanks, Val,” she says, absently taking a handful of peanuts.

Juliana has been quiet since she got back, her smiles not reaching her eyes. Valentina tried several ways to get a genuine smile out of her, but to no avail. Earlier, she asked Juliana if she wanted to do something other than watch Quidditch practice, but Juliana only shook her head and said she wanted to enjoy the weather outside. But Juliana looks like she’s not enjoying it at all.

Valentina bites her lip, frowning. Juliana has always been able to cheer her up when she’s in a mood, Valentina feels like a failure as a friend that she can’t do it now when the situation is reversed. Lost, she turns to look up at the Quidditch team practising in the air, idly noting Charles doing an unnecessary loop-de-loop and the Captain yelling at him for showing off.

“Val,” Juliana says softly.

Valentina turns back to Juliana, so quickly her hair whips around. Her eyes widen, eager, waiting for Juliana to say something more.

“Val, I want to say I’m sorry,” Juliana says, her eyebrows drawn into a slight frown.

“What? What for?”

“For lying to you about my father. I’ve been--”

“No, Juls,” Valentina cuts in quickly, reaching out to cover Juliana’s hand with her own. “Don’t apologise about that.”

“But--”

Valentina puts down the jar of peanuts on her other side and holds Juliana with both hands, squeezing gently. “I understand why you didn’t tell me about him, okay?” she says, making sure to meet Juliana’s eyes. “You’re not-- you don’t owe anyone an explanation, _no one at all_ ,” she adds, putting emphasis on her words when she recalls how Juliana stuttered through telling Professor Henson about what happened. She knows Juliana has resolved to tell Jane and Lina about everything as well, but Valentina wants her to understand that she should only do it if she’s comfortable.

Valentina thinks about how hard it must be for Juliana, having a father like the one she described. Valentina’s own father was always away on business trips too, but his projects are all aimed at helping people, and he has never been anything but loving to Valentina.

“I can only imagine…” she starts, but trails off immediately. The truth is, she can never imagine Juliana’s life at home. It’s like a shadowy ghost that Juliana tries to keep away. Valentina won’t force her to talk about it. She only wishes she can protect Juliana from anything that would try to hurt her.

“I--” Juliana stutters out before swallowing. She takes a deep breath. “ _Gracias_ , Val,” she says, not quite smiling, but her brown eyes are no longer clouded.

Valentina gives her a bracing smile. “Is that why you’ve been so quiet?”

“Yes,” says Juliana. “Well, not exactly, but…”

“What?”

Juliana looks around them. There are other students watching the Quidditch practice, but they’re several feet away and out of earshot. Still, Juliana shuffles closer to Valentina and whispers, “I did accidental magic.”

“What-- when? How?”

“I-- I was holding a white blanket, and the spot I was touching turned red. Not blood red. It was just like it was dyed red.”

“Really?”

Juliana nods vigorously, looking at Valentina as though she might be able to explain it. However, Valentina’s experience with accidental magic was very different. She flew, made things explode, and once, she transported to a candy store in the middle of the night when her parents wouldn’t let her have sweets before bedtime. That was all in the past; she has never done accidental magic after she started Ilvermorny. Then again, she lives in Mexico, where students can carry wands outside of school, so she’s allowed to bring her wand with her when she goes home. Her dad also makes Valentina and her siblings take wandless magic lessons from a private tutor every summer, giving them better control of their magic.

“That sounds like a kind of Transfiguration,” is the only thing Valentina can say.

“Val,” Juliana says, pushing her by their still joined hands. “Not again.”

“I’m just saying!” Valentina grins teasingly. “Turning things a different colour, that’s Transfiguration.”

“Isn’t it Charms?”

“No, no, it’s Transfiguration. You should listen to me, I’m in third year and older than you.”

Valentina rarely uses the age card, but it never fails to get a rise out of Juliana. This time is no different. She playfully pushes Valentina again. Valentina pretends to topple over, almost doing so in the process were it not for Juliana pulling her back.

“You are ridiculous,” Juliana declares, but she’s fighting back a smile.

Valentina only grins in response, elated to see the brightness coming back to Juliana’s eyes.


End file.
